Tatkal tickets: IRCTC introduces book now, pay later service

New Delhi: The Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) has introduced a new facility ‘Book Now – Pay Later’ service, that will allow its users to book tatkal tickets first and pay later, reducing the time required for booking such tickets, according to a news report. The tickets will be delivered at their doorstep.

The service was earlier restricted to bookings made under general reservations, while tatkal tickets required instant payment through online modes before the users’ tickets were confirmed, Hindustan Times reported.

Now, IRCTC users will be able to book tatkal tickets and pay either through cash or debit/credit cards by opting for doorstep delivery facility, as per the report.

IRCTC handles about 130,000 tatkal transactions per day, the report says, with a majority of these tickets booked within a span of minutes after the quota facility opens.

“The pay on delivery feature completely circumvents the use of a payment gateway and will help users make the bookings in just a few seconds greatly increasing their chance of booking a confirmed ticket under the tatkal quota,” HT report quoted Anurag Bajpai, CEO, Anduril Technologies as saying. The firm operates IRCTC’s payment gateway.

Under the new system, the time generally taken to book tatkal tickets will go down as it removes the scope of transaction failures.